Swordsman III - The East
is Red
Reviewed by YTSL
John Woo may be the best known Hong Kong director
in the West. The works of Wong Kar Wai and Stanley Kwan -- and even
Ann Hui -- probably have played and garnered more honors at the more prestigious
international film festivals. Johnnie To and his Milkyway Productions
may be the current top dogs in the now Special Administrative Region of
China. For this fan of movies from that part of the world though,
it is Tsui Hark and his Film Workshop who really rule, excite and stimulate
as well as often transport me into fantastic fantasy realms which would
be beyond most other people's imaginations and abilities to bring into
(cinematic) being.
Although SWORDSMAN III: THE EAST IS RED
is undoubtedly a lesser as well as flawed Film Workshop production, there
also is no denying its being close to overflowing with incredible sights,
sounds, ideas and critiques. We are, after all, talking about a fantasy
drama in which are to be found: Ninjas on kites; a midget samurai;
a pigeon-spitting albino who had been inside the skin of a Highlander woman;
martial artists with powers that verge on the -- or indeed are -- supernatural
(and hence are able to repel bullets and cannon balls as well as fly!);
and so much more. Then there is the fact, commented upon by David
Bordwell in his masterful "Planet Hong Kong" book, that: "Only about
five minutes of THE EAST IS RED...are without musical accompaniment; no
more than a minute goes unscored" (2000:186-187). And what fantastic
music much of it is too; the kind that will get under your skin and touch
your soul as well as cement itself in your memory!
Amidst all this is the moviemakers' bid to sound
off on a whole host of rather serious and weighty topics even while working
hard to entertain the audience. Granted that some people -- who see
THE EAST IS RED as just a massive but mainly fun action romp -- might think
I myself have gone over the edge when they read the following...but this
(re)viewer firmly believes that this clearly ambitious film also contains
thought-provoking meditations on such as: Faith (in the personal
and religious sense); power; science versus the mysterious; the individual's
bid and (in)ability to affect the course of history; the limits of personal
achievement; what ordinary people want; and what is really meant by great
success. Relatedly, Tsui Hark's sense of irony and propensity for
political commentary is there for all to see -- yet often not realized
by those without the requisite cultural knowledge -- in this film's English
title being the same as that of a famous Maoist anthem but its Chinese
one literally translating as "Invincible Asia 2: Turbulence Again Rises".
Actually, THE EAST IS RED's major problem might
well be that it possesses too much for anyone to adequately take in and
appreciate -- especially upon a single viewing -- as well as tries to do,
say and be too many things on too limited a budget; the logical outcome,
perhaps, of its having Ching Siu Tung ("A Chinese Ghost Story" I-III) and
Raymond Lee ("Dragon Inn" and "Police Confidential"[!]) as co-directors
as well as Tsui Hark as its producer. In any case, there is no denying
that this 108 minute length work is saturated with a near overwhelming
feeling of having helmers who favor extreme measures and being incredibly
prone to irrational mood swings (characteristics akin to that which one
associates with its main character, the single real connection to "Swordsman
II", Asia the Invincible).
Considering how much Asia the Invincible looms
over proceedings here, there is ample reason to believe that this 1993
production was largely conceived as a way to give fans of the very popular
"Swordsman II" further opportunity to luxuriate in the filmic presence
of that singular being; whose attraction surely is added by his/her/its
being portrayed by the mesmerizing Brigitte Lin Ching-Hsia (who stole that
1992 show from the top-billed Jet Li even though she had less screen time
than him, Michelle Reis and maybe even Rosamund Kwan). The leading
actress' considerable dramatic -- but also self-parodic -- talents are
definitely put to good use by way of having her mercurial character effectively
come back from the dead to variously take on the roles of: Vengeful
as well as angry god(dess); questing wanderer; a cocky prostitute in a
Japanese military camp; a commander of a Spanish galleon as well as a Japanese
warship with the capacity to convert into a submarine; an expert at "sewing
needle fu" who can block valves and cause men's hearts to explode on command;
and, alternately, a beneficiary, spurner and appreciator of an immensely
faithful as well as sensual lover.
Nonetheless, I can't help but think that THE EAST
IS RED would have benefited from focusing (even) more on Brigitte Lin's
character and having him/her/it interact more with the man who thought
it worth dying just to catch a glimpse of the legendary Highlander (Chinese
military officer Koo is portrayed Yu Rong Guang) and the concubine who
was unwilling to stop loving her master (In tandem with Jean Wong but also
Ms. Lin, in an erotic montage which I have taken to calling "the tongue
scene"(!), Joey Wong heats up the screen in this by no means insignificant
or passive role). At the very least, this would have made for a less
sprawling and better structured picture. It has to be admitted though
that this Brigittephile wished that it had been so in large part because
this already satisfying, even if chaotic, work -- which I appreciate more
with each additional rewatch -- would then have contained still more
images of and scenes with a charismatic actress whose visage as well as
actions I don't think I will ever tire of viewing.
My rating for this film: 9.
Reviewed by Brian
What a glorious, rapturous fevered-pitched
mess of a film this is. It is a film that is so full of ideas and images
that they are practically stepping on one another in their rush to get
into the frame. There simply isn't enough time or space to bring them on
in a conventional ordered manner - so like a spectacularly multi-colored
butterfly with only a short time to live, the film spins and twirls around
in a narcotic dream like adrenaline high expending all its life force in
its frantic last moments of life.
This is a world seemingly in total chaos - full
of desperate people seeking faith in false idols, a dynasty slowly crumbling
and creating a power vacuum, foreigners seeking to make inroads into China.
Yet to me the essence of the film is a love story as pure and passionate
as two lover's first long awaited kiss. A wanting and a needing so fierce
that it nearly consumes all around them. A woman waiting for word of her
lover who supposedly lies dead at the bottom of the Black Cliffs. Her lover
though is Asia the Invincible and this complicates matters greatly as one
might imagine. On top of this, Asia the Invincible seems to be going through
a crisis of identity – man or woman, god or human – and the doubts seem
to be leading him/her to the brink of insanity and to a swathe of destruction
through the land.
There is no doubt that the film has a number of
structural weaknesses – ignore them – revel instead in the torrent of images
and imagination that flow and flood through the film like a river run wild
– and in the love of Asia the Invincible (Brigitte Lin) and her concubine
Snow (Joey Wong).
My rating for this film: 9.0
For many more images of this
film - click here.
DVD Information:
Distributed by Mei Ah
The transfer has a little wear in a few scenes
- but overall is terrific - the dark scenes look great.
Letterboxed
Cantonese and Mandarin language tracks
Subtitles: Chinese (Traditional), English,
Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Japanese, Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian &
Vietnamese
9 Chapters
It includes it's own trailer and the trailer
for Stars and Roses.